Breakdown of On etuoikeus saada päätösvalta valita johtaja.
olla
to be
valita
to choose
saada
to get
johtaja
the director
Questions & Answers about On etuoikeus saada päätösvalta valita johtaja.
How do the nouns etuoikeus and päätösvalta dictate the grammar of this sentence?
Both are abstract nouns that express a right, opportunity, or power. In Finnish, these types of nouns frequently take a first infinitive as a complement. Here, etuoikeus links directly to saada, and päätösvalta links directly to valita.
Both päätösvalta and johtaja are grammatical objects here. Why are they in the nominative case instead of the genitive-accusative?
This is a classic zero-subject sentence structure. The main clause (On etuoikeus...) has no grammatical subject. When an object belongs to an infinitive in a sentence lacking a personal subject, the object takes the nominative case (sometimes called the nominative-accusative). Therefore, both objects keep their base forms.
How are the compound nouns etuoikeus and päätösvalta constructed?
Etuoikeus combines etu (advantage, benefit) and oikeus (right), literally meaning an "advantageous right" or privilege. Päätösvalta combines päätös (decision) and valta (power). Recognizing these abstract base words (oikeus, valta) helps you predict that an infinitive will often follow them.
If we rewrote this with an että (that) clause, how would the object grammar change?